Monday, January 14, 2013

Some Sad News

Some sad news has emerged from USFigureSkating. Unfortunately, Alissa Czisny, the stunningly graceful and artistic 2009/2011 US National Champion, has had to withdraw from the upcoming US Figure Skating Championships, due to a dislocated left hip.

Alissa, who is also the 2010 GPF Champion, is a universally loved skater. She is world renowned for her spins, which are considered to be the fastest and among the most beautiful in the world. Her spins travel faster than lightning, and each one hits multiple gorgeous and difficult positions. Her other famous trait is her artistry, which only rivals Sasha Cohen for the best in the world, as well as her clean, deep, and pure edges as she skates.

Alissa started off last season strong with a win over Kostner at Skate America, but then slowly, the season began to fall apart. Her season ended with her infamous meltdown at Worlds, where she fell twice in the SP (along with a large stumble on her Axel) and 5 times in the LP. However, Alissa was unknowingly skating with a torn labrum in her hip, which caused her to struggle to land her jumps, not just at Worlds but at the Challenge Cup a few weeks prior as well.

After Alissa and her coaches discovered the injury in May, she underwent surgery in June, and subsequently spent the majority of the summer off the ice while she recovered. Alissa was assigned to the NHK trophy, the last GP event in the hopes that she would be ready in time, but she was forced to withdraw a week prior, stating a lack of sufficient recovery and training time.

A couple weeks ago, IceNetwork ran an excellent article/interview with Alissa, where she stated she was fully recovered and ready to compete again at Nationals for the first time since Worlds.

This weekend, Alissa appeared in a small competition in Wisconsin called the Fox Cities Invitational. This decision to compete less than two weeks before the US Championships was considered odd and alarming to many. Then, this weekend, this tweet was released by the USFSA, which shocked and alarmed many:

The skating world eventually became aware of what seems to be the story of what exactly happened: Czisny fell on a triple flip a couple of minutes into her LP, and was unable to leave the ice without assistance. Finally, after two days of frantic hoping and speculation, the USFSA sadly revealed that Czisny would unfortunately have to withdraw from the US Championships, due to a dislocated hip that will require surgery to fix.

Many people are now questioning whether we will ever see the lovely Alissa Czisny compete again, or if her meltdown at Worlds last year is the last we ever see of a competitive Czisny. This season has felt empty without Czisny, who is unarguably one of the big stars of current day competitive skating. Let us all hope that Alissa recovers well and comes back to compete at her 2010-2011-self, even if it is one final competition, where she skates lights out and leaves us with lasting, good memories of this exceptionally talented, graceful, and beautiful skater.

While we wait for more news from the Czisny camp, let us enjoy these two performances of her masterpiece "Winter into Spring" program, that won her the GPF and the US Nationals in one season.

About Me

Welcome to Illusion Spin! I decided to start this blog after all the drama in gymnastics at the 2012 Olympics. I've followed all the main (and totally awesome) blogs (Examiner, Couch Gymnast, Aunt Joyce, etc) for about a year, and now I've decided to start my own! Some of my other favorite blogs are DavaiStoi!, Spanny Tampson's Big Fake Smile, and The E Panel. I'm very sarcastic, so you may see plenty of sarcasm on this blog. I may address some controversial topics; say what you like - I don't care. Your opinion may not always agree with mine, and that's fine. Figure Skating will also be featured on this blog, as that is my other favorite sport, and Figure Skating and Gymnastics are quite similar in many ways. I will really only talk about Ladies Figure Skating, as that is the only discipline of figure skating I really know about and like. I look forward to writing about my two favorite sports, and I hope you all enjoy my blog! Enjoy Illusion Spin!